C.D. urged to be prepared for post-N-war

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 12

C.D. urged to be prepared for post-N-war

PA Auckland A new Auckland antinuclear group is urging civil defence authorities to prepare for the aftermath of nuclear war. A Carrington Hospital psychologist and member of Down Under Survival Kernel, or D.U.S.K., Dr John Bradley, has said it was not enough simply to oppose nuclear war and work for disarmament. D.U.S.K. took a different tack from the wider peace movement and promoted planning for life after nuclear war, he said. “Risks of nuclear war are increasing, not diminishing, despite detente and the rise of the disarmament movement," Dr Bradley said. “I think we need an insurance in case it isn’t prevented.” The group’s first task would be to convince the Government to assess ur-

gently the impact of nuclear war and how New Zealand could respond, Dr Bradley said. Animals and certain plants should be protected, steps taken to store industrial materials, fuels, medicines, foods and goods considered vital to society, and measures adopted to preserve records and critical information.

Dr Bradley said New Zealand civil defence planners had no nuclear policy. This was wrong, he said, especially in the light of the suggestion by some scientists that New Zealand might escape the devastating impact of a nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere.

His group, which he formed with a Hibiscus Coast artist, Becke Green, intended to press for official nuclear war contingency planning.